The First Anguillians

When was Anguilla First Inhabited, and by WHOM?

Late Ceramic Age

During the following Late Ceramic Age, populations grew steadily in Anguilla and the region.In what archaeologists call the post-Saladoid Period, there were at least 14 large village sites occupied on the island. The closest was about 300 m away at Shoal Bay East, and covered at least 10 acres. Like Anguillianstoday, Amerindians who called Anguilla home during centuries before European contact were expert mariners, fishermen, and traders. And, like today, seafood was the most popular item on the menu based onanalysis of food bone refuse from Amerindian Village sites, 95% of which is fish!

Zemi AAHS Collection

Early Creamic Age

After migrations of Amerindians into the Caribbean around 2,500 years ago included largergroups of fisher-farmers who brought cultigens with them such as cassava and maize (corn)along with animals such as dogs and Agoutis (Guinea pig-sized rodents). During this era, calledthe early Ceramic Age or early Saladoid Period by archaeologists, people made highly decoratedclay pottery and lived in large, permanent settlements. Though known from nearby islands, sitesdating to the earliest portion of the early ceramic age have yet to Early Ceramic Age be found in Anguilla, perhapsdue to erosion caused by sea level rise or perhaps people avoided Anguilla in favour of wetter islands with better soilsfor farming. People began to permanently settle in Anguilla sometime between A.D. 400-800 or 1,600-1200 years ago during what archaeologists call the late Saladoid Period at the end of the early Ceramic Age. They established permanent villages at Sandy Ground, Rendezvous Bay and nearby Shoal Bay East.

Archaic Age

People first migrated into the West Indies from South and Central America some 6,000 years ago. The oldest sites inAnguilla date to around 3,500 years ago during a period archaeologists call the Archaic Age. They were skilled seafarers who lived in small extended family groups and moved regularly between camps and islands to fish, collect shellfish, harvest plant foods and hunt birds and reptiles.

What is Anguillea?Thousands of years before humans arrived in the Caribbean, lower sea-levels exposed a largelandmass called “Anguillea” that connected the islands of Anguilla, St. Martin/St. Maarten, and St.Barthelemy. Anguillea, which existed until the end of the Pleistocene epoch roughly 20,000 years ago,was home to many of the same species that are still present on the islands today, but also home to someanimals that have since gone extinct.

Why did the Amblyrhiza die out?The largest and most notable of these extinct speciesis the giant rodent, Amblyrhiza inundata. As sealevelsrose at the end of the Pleistocene, the animal’s territory became inundated and this reduction in its island habitat is believed to have led to its ultimate extinction, hence the rodent’s scientific name “Inundata.”​How big was the ‘Giant Rat’?From its fossilized bones, paleontologists estimate that the giant rodent, which had wide incisor teeth and sharp claws, may have weighed up to more than 200 kg (440 lbs)! At that size, the massive creature would have been as much as three times as large as the capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris), the largest rodentknown on earth today!

Amblyrhiza inundata

Fossilized remains found in caves.Fossilized remains of Amblyrhiza inundata were first discovered in 1868 within a shipment of phosphatethat had come from Cavannagh or “Governor” Cave in north-central Anguilla. More recently, fossilsfrom Amblyrhiza inundata have been recovered by paleontologists from other Anguillian caves as well,including Pitch Apple Hole and Tanglewood Cave (but not Fountain Cavern). (Bones are part of the AAHS Collection)It is important to note, that there is no evidence that humans and the giant rodent Amblyrhiza were everin the same place at the same time. It is much more likely that the largest island rodent ever discoveredwent extinct long before people could ever see one running wild.